Read Red Notes: "Dream of the Red Chamber" and the Summer Palace and Others

Author: Dou Fu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The Fragrant Garden is Built West of the Imperial City—Wanshou Mountain and Kunming Lake as Witness In Chapter 18 of Dream of the Red Chamber, the celebration of the Lantern Festival brings together many characters of the Red Chamber to compose odes about the Grand View Garden, providing a macro perspective for us to grasp this garden. Xue Baochai's poem, "The Fragrant Garden is Built West of the Imperial City," first describes its orientation. West of the Imperial City refers to the western side of the imperial capital. During the Qing Dynasty, the imperial capital was Beijing, and to the west of Beijing lay the Grand View Garden in the novel, as well as the real-world Summer Palace. Xi Chun's poem: "Mountains and waters stretch for thousands of miles, towers and pavilions rise among the five clouds." Li Yun's poem: "Exquisite waters and mountains embrace and turn back, elegance and literary talent surpass even Penglai." Tanchun's poem, "A renowned garden rises majestically," repeatedly emphasizes that the Grand View Garden is a mountain-water garden with both mountains and waters, and it is vast in scale. Considering its location in the west of the imperial city, apart from the Summer Palace, it is difficult to find another place that fits these characteristics. Of course, relying solely on orientation and abstract descriptions is far from sufficient to draw a definitive conclusion. As long as we stay within the Summer Palace, there will still be some evidence presented. However, these pieces of evidence have undergone certain transformations or are expressed ambiguously, with incorrect orientations, making them far less direct and accurate than looking at photographs or maps. Therefore, relying on just one or two pieces of evidence is not convincing. But when two or more pieces are present, they can be considered as a link in the chain of evidence, as the broader context also plays a role. For example, I say a certain scenic spot resembles the Xing Bridge because it is located in a garden "west of the imperial city." Conversely, if it were "east of the imperial city," it would be a different bridge, not the Xing Bridge. Similarly, if the garden "west of the imperial city" contains a bridge like the Xing Bridge and a certain place resembling the Paichun Hall or the Duiou Pavilion, then this garden must be the Summer Palace. In Chapter 18, Jia Yuanchun wrote a poem: "Built with precision, embracing mountains and waters, how much effort was poured into its creation! The heavens and the earth are fully represented here—this fragrant garden should be named Grand View." The Grand View Garden is named after this poem. An inscription by Emperor Qianlong in the Summer Palace resonates greatly with this. The Old Records of the Capital Under the Sun (Volume 84) records that the former Qingyi Garden had a scenic spot called the Canxiu Pavilion, with the imperial inscription "Yantai Daguan" carved on the back stone wall. Later, due to warfare, the Canxiu Pavilion was destroyed, and another structure was built on its site. The Beijing Travel Guide states: "On the half-mountain behind Yangyun Pavilion, the old name was Canxiu Pavilion. It was rebuilt during the Guangxu era. The pavilion has three bays and a folding shape, named Fuyin Pavilion. On the western rock, there is the high imperial inscription 'Yantai Daguan'." The four characters "Yantai Daguan" have been preserved to this day but are rarely visited, nearly forgotten. "Yantai" means "the swallows fly here and linger," where swallows fly refers to the emperor going out in light attire. "Daguan" means magnificent scenery. In colloquial terms, it means the magnificent scenery that the emperor takes in during his tour. In Dream of the Red Chamber, "Daguan" refers to the magnificent scenery seen by the imperial princess, with the only difference being the perspective. What they both see is a grand mountain-water garden, with no difference in their descriptions. The wording they use to summarize their impressions is also identical.